Commercial Real Estate agents are keenly aware that their businesses won’t return to normal as the ball drops on 2020. 2021 may bring new challenges and opportunities as we identify what the post-covid office looks like.
Two expert opinions on that come from recent outlook reports by CBRE (NYSE: CBRE) and MetLife Investment Management. The CBRE report says the second half of the year will be when this tale will unfold: “Only when workers can safely return to the office will the long-term effect of remote working levels become clear.”
The report also says, don’t underestimate the power of teamwork, easy collaboration, and face-to-face business interaction to draw businesses back to the in-person model.
The MetLife report, meanwhile, says that, contrary to conventional wisdom, it expects central business district office submarkets to outperform their suburban counterparts, calling the swing toward the latter “short-term.”
Gay Cororaton, a senior economist at NAR says:
“The second half of 2021 will likely be a better year than 2020…. While there will likely be some social distancing in place, I expect that in the second half, there will be a resurgence in many activities related to leisure, sports, and travel, and more people will return to the office. As cash flows and business activity improves, absorption of vacant offices, retail brick-and-mortars, and lodging will also tend to increase. Continuing job growth will enable more commercial and multifamily tenants to pay rent.”
Links to full reports:
https://www.cbre.us/research-and-reports/US-Real-Estate-Market-Outlook-2021
https://www.nar.realtor/research-and-statistics/research-reports/commercial-research
